In Faith Ringgold’s Born in a Cotton Field, a painted quilt, the nativity narrative fuses to the experience of African Americans in the south. The work of art creates a secondary context to over lay the biblical story. The voyage to Bethlehem is replaced with the fraught voyage of slaves travelling the Underground Railroad; Jesus born in the open cotton fields.

When I moved to the United States from Belgium and South Africa, I was introduced to the particular history of America. The experience of slavery and the civil war created contact points between the struggle of racism in my birth place and the colonial roots of institutional slavery around the world. The school I attended in America included a reminder of slavery’s legacy through a bussing program that brought African American’s from St. Louis’s city center to the suburbs were I lived. I grew up confronted by the reality of segregation; whether it was socially enforced or politically enforced, the impact was often the same.

The paintings and painted quilts of Faith Ringgold provide an exhaustive point of immersion into the experience of African Americans in the United States and Europe. Experiencing her art provides an immersive experience that creates opportunities for learning and personal reflection.

Faith Ringgold Born in a Cotton Field 1997 Acrylic on canvas; painted and pieced border 73.5 x 79.5 inches ACA Galleries From the series: The American Collection #3 Copyright © Faith Ringgold